Faker war reporter found dead
The reporter who was exposed as a fraud during the Iraq invasion has been found dead in his home. During the war he filed a report that was allegedly from a submarine in the gulf firing a missile at Iraq. In fact, it was a submarine doing a drill at their UK base. He was suspended after the faked report was exposed.
Before this incident, James Forlong was a well respected reporter who had worked for Sky for 10 years.
Comments are off for this postAnti-fag loons get silly
CMU reports:
Anti-smoking groups have hit out at Craig David’s involvement with a music event in Malaysia that is part-sponsored by Asian cigarette brand Salem. David is due to play at the event in Penang on 11 Oct as part of is ‘Slicker Than The Average’ world tour.
Commenting on the event Deborah Arnott, director of anti-smoking charity ASH, told reporters: “Is Craig David really going to be used by the tobacco industry to market cigarettes to his young fans? Tobacco sponsorship is outlawed in the UK - why would Craig David want to do the industry’s dirty work in Malaysia?”
But a spokesman for David this weekend said the performance would go ahead, pointing out that the event included a number of other performers and a fashion show, and that there would be no direct link between David and Salem branding: “There is no advertising of any kind that we have seen that includes both Salem and Craig David. To this end Craig David is not promoting or condoning smoking or cigarettes.”
A spokesman for Japanese Tobacco International, who make the cigarettes, defended his company’s sponsorship of the event saying: “The event is restricted to over-18-year-olds only. It is about maintaining brand loyalty among adult smokers.”
Glad to see Craig David standing up to these idjits.
Comments are off for this postSuicide gig gets murky
Via CMU
Well, it’s a bit unclear where things stand with the controversial Hell On Earth gig that was due to take place this weekend in the Florida town of St Petersburg. According to local press there is no evidence the concert, or the live suicide of a terminally ill fan, took place at all. However a Chicago based website is promising exclusive coverage of the event, though it is vague as to whether than event has taken place.
As previously reported Hell On Earth planned to allow the suicide to take place during one of their gigs in a bid to raise publicity for the ‘right to die’ campaign. Despite being known for their OTT publicity stunts many in St Petersburg took the band at face value and hit out at the proposed event. So much so the owners of the venue where the gig was due to take place cancelled, and local authorities passed a new law to make it quite clear the band would be breaking the law if they staged a suicide as ‘entertainment’. But as late as Friday the band claimed the event would take place in St Petersburg at a secret location in front of a small selected audience, confirming it would be webcast for the world to see.
However since Friday the band’s website has been out of action most of the time. Some reports reckon the band’s ISP has closed it down, others alleged the site had been hacked. Either way, when the site reappeared briefly on Saturday night pointing fans to another site www.evilnow.com. That site is still live but is vague about whether or not the gig and suicide took place, and if not if it is to be rescheduled. The site simply promises an interview with the band’s frontman Billy Tourtelot at 11am local time today. Fans and local authorities will be hoping that that interview will tell them whether or not the gig and suicide did, or will, take place.
Comments are off for this postBrum not proud of Ozzy
Officials in Ozzy Osbourne’s hometown of Birmingham weren’t impressed when a group of the singer’s fans suggested giving him ‘freedom of the city’ status. According to IC Birmingham so many members of Birmingham council have said they would vote against the move that it is almost pointless a vote taking place.
One councillor, John Hemmingway, told reporters: “Frankly the idea of Osbourne as a role model is laughable. If we want to give the honour to
musicians, UB40 would be a far better vote.”
Via: CMU
Wow, think the councillor wants to give it to UB40 because they are socialists? UB40 has had a career over covering other people’s music. Ozzy’s has had a longer career, sold more albums, written more successful songs, and done more creatively, than UB40. Who got asked to play the Queen’s jubilee party?
Maybe an incoming Tory government could pledge to give Ozzy a knighthood. It would do something for the metalhead vote, at least.
1 commentLight(er) blogging
Blogging will be a bit lighter in the next few days as I am at Tory Party Conference in Blackpool. I am covering it for The Sprout. I am here to dig up the poop on all things European. My first port of call will be the Bruges Group meeting in a few minutes.
Bumped into a few fellow bloggers including Peter Cutherberson, who got soused last night in our hotel and Frank Sensenbrenner with whom I am sharing a room.
1 commentA dangerous sub-text…
Robert Novak, writing a column for Town Hall, said, in part:
“During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA’s counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. It was an offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger. When I called another official for confirmation, he said: “Oh, you know about it.” The published report that somebody in the White House failed to plant this story with six reporters and finally found me as a willing pawn is simply untrue.”JFM knew she had seen it somewhere. Thanks to RWN, she has now located that little gem. Underneath all the hooh-haw about who leaked what to whom is a very disturbing sub-text of political shenanigans within an agency whose official charge is to provide the Executive Branch with intelligence, not provide partisanly slanted opinions from outsiders. There is something dreadfully wrong here that too many have overlooked, ignored, or are actively seeking to obscure. 2 comments
